A self-admitted neo-Nazi was convicted two weeks ago for beating and killing an openly homosexual man in 2002 but was not convicted of committing a hate crime, even though he admitted he killed the man because of his sexual orientation.

Philip Walsted was found dead outside of IBT's bar, 616 N. Fourth Ave., with dozens of injuries inflicted by a baseball bat.

David Higdon was charged with first-degree murder Jan. 28, and his prosecutor said he killed Walsted because of Higdon's affiliation with a neo-Nazi group. Higdon will be sentenced March 28 and he stands to serve anywhere from 25 years to life in prison or possible execution.

Lori Girshick, coordinator for the Wingspan anti-violence project, said the judge will take into consideration Higdon's skinhead ties and testimonies from witnesses at the time of Walstead's murder.

Wingspan does various services around Tucson for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals who need counseling and assistance. Wingspan holds seminars and is working to "better the light" on North Fourth Avenue, Girshick said.

Girshick, who sat in Higdon's trial to show support for Walstead's family and the community, said the Arizona Legislature does not have a statute specifically related to hate crimes.

However, if hate is a factor in the crime, Girshick said it is taken into consideration during trial.

Michelle Pickrom, Tucson Police Department spokeswoman, said police cannot charge a person for a hate crime, but it can be introduced in a trial as a "sentence enhancer," meaning it could tack extra time on the person's sentence.

TPD classified 21 cases as hate crimes in 2004 and 28 cases as hate crimes in 2003, but that does not necessary reflect a downward trend, Pickrom said.

According to Wingspan statistics based on telephone reports, in 2004, 59 individuals in Arizona reported some kind of discrimination based on their sexual orientation, including vandalism, job discrimination, unjustified arrested, assaults and robberies.

University of Arizona Police Department officials said incidents of discrimination based on sexual orientation do pop up, but determining whether or not they classify as hate crimes is difficult because each case has to be fully investigated.

"I can't say they are common, but it does occur," said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesman.

Mejia said they receive reports of hate-crimelike incidences on campus, but was unsure of an exact number due to the difficulty of distinguishing between hate crimes and other violent acts.

An incident was reported to police involving offensive comments in regard to a woman's sexual orientation.

An employee in the Arizona International College building, 1628 E. Helen St., reported to UAPD she was a victim of two anti-homosexual e-mails with no return address the morning of Jan. 27.

The woman told police she was currently in a lesbian relationship but never has been a victim of harassment before, reports stated.

Mejia said students are diverse and come from different backgrounds, and sometimes crimes that occur regularly in the outside community trickle into the UA.

"We will experience them from time to time," he said.

But police said even though it seems like some crimes are done out of hate, they more often than not are just classified as a murder, assault or whatever the nature the crime is.

Although several cases involving anti-homosexual behavior have been reported to UAPD in past weeks, UAPD officials said that does not necessary classify them as hate crimes.

"A hate crime is meant to hurt, deprive and to serve a point," said UAPD Officer Frank Romero. "It is hate for a certain race, symbol, belief or group."

Romero said in many cases, an incident will appear to be a hate crime, but police have to do extensive research to make sure the crime fits specific criteria.

"It's not always as obvious as it seems," Romero said.

An obvious example of a hate crime would be if a person admitted committing an act of violence against another because of their race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender or disability, Romero said.

But even then, the person would have to have singled that person out solely for that reason, he said.

Romero said in some cases, individuals belong to a racial group and want the public to know race is the reason they target their victims.

Other incidents are not so obvious because police do not know the suspect's true intent for the crime, even though the answer may seem obvious.

"We all get headaches over this," Romero said.

Another incident was reported about two weeks ago involving offensive anti-Semitic graffiti in the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house, 1510 N. Vine Ave.

Romero said the case is full of "religious bias," but would probably not be classified that way since the intent of the perpetrator is unknown.

Two weeks ago, a member of the fraternity reported to UAPD two swastikas were drawn on the interior walls sometime during a weekend social gathering. Alpha Epsilon Pi's members are predominately Jewish.

The swastikas were drawn near the main entrance with a black marker and were about 2-by-2 feet in size, police reports stated.

The fraternity members told police the doors are kept securely locked and believed the person who drew the swastikas must have been a guest of a fraternity member, reports stated.

Sometimes a racial slur or reference to a person's appearance or religion is made during an interaction, but Romero said sometimes a person is just venting frustrations and points out and insults the most obvious characteristic.

Romero said classifying some crimes as "hate" can have serious social repercussions on the person who is being accused.

"When you start putting titles on crimes, they could get pretty ugly," Romero said.

For example, if two men got into an argument and one man used a racial slur, it does not necessarily constitute a hate crime unless that was the only reason for the confrontation, Romero said.

If police suspect a crime is the result of hate, they fill out a form that states the reason they believe a person was targeted and what the bias was. Police investigate all incidents that could possibly be hate crimes.